St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-07-14


"I have an opportunity fOrssadvance-
ment in my profession" he said,
(which it would i'll behoove me to put
by. In my native town is offered me
a position of trust and confidence-no
less l may say to you, dear madam,
than a professors chair"
| hadn't the least idea what he
meant. knew that one chair differed
very much from another, and whereas
one was comfortable, easy and enjoy
able, another might be for the time be-
ing a seat of fortune but wherein a
professors chair excelled l could not
at that time imagine. | sat quite still,
foot rested upon the treadle of the ma
chine, and l sat and stared at Mr..
Slade like one demented.
"And it has occurred to me-" he
went on, "that the position l have
held here, which is an exceedingly easy
and pleasant one, might prOftably and
equitably be filled by one of the other
sex the duties are not at all arduOus,
and could be performed more readily,
it appears to me, than those pertain
ing to the needle. | have spoken to
the committee in your behalf, and with
little attention upon your part to the
simple mechanical requirements nee
essary, and little help upon mine,
you will be ready to fill the position at
once ~
"WhoP /, Mr.. Slade Why, you
must be crazy
Then feeling that this was not a re-
spectful way to speak, l added that his
kindness for me had led him to over
rate my capabilities.
"Why, Mr.. Slade," said l, 81 never
got beyond the four first rules in
arithmetic"
"And upon these depend every
thing" he replied. "COme, put by
your work, and let us see what we can
do in IA first attempt"
1t was no use to refuse. His was
one of those masterful natures that al
ways cOnquers. Half an hour after l
was sitting close by his side at the ia
BILE, with Charities slate under my
blurred eyes and Charles pencil in
my trembling fingers. The rosy even
ing light streamed in upon us, the soft,
south wind bringing resinOus OdOrs
through the window from the woods
where Charlie yet fingered.
'NOw, my dear Mrs. Sweet" said
Mr.. Slade-and the very gentleness of
! tone, the tender rendering of my name,
made me shiver and shake; for could
not get the thought from my head that
when he was gone there was nobody
left to deal tenderly with me or mine
"nOw pray try and give your thoughts
to the subject in hand. 1t is the
simplest thing in the world and these
rudiments once conquered, the rest
will follow. Now, man sold his farm
for $3.50, and fourteen ffteenths of
this is seven ninths of the cost of his
house, and the house cost seven times
as much as the store; now what was
the cost of the house and the store 2"
His voice was so persuasive, so dis
tinct, it must have been a pleasant
voice to listen to at school, even if the
poor little blOckhead could make
neither head nor tail to his meaning.
| looked at Mr.. Slade, and then out of
the window, where the mellow light of
the sunset shone, and away over at the
wooded hills beyond, and L thought
how, such a little while ago, it was a
spring landscape all bathed in tender
est green, and now it was autumn, the
grass was sere and brown, the leaves
falling, the branches like skeletons
against the evening sky.
"Madam-my dear Mrs. Sweet, "said
the voice of the schoOlmaster, 81 beg
your attention to these few first rules.
1t is distasteful to me to leave you a
prey to the coarse habits of these viii
lage women, who faunt their finery in
an Obtrusive and unbecOming manner,
and grndge you the poor reward for
your labor"
"She said the seams were crooked,
and perhaps they were," said for [
knew he meant Mrs. Chapel. 81 am
not very good at sewing, Or-any-
thing" Then two big tears rolled out
of my eyes upon Charities slate, and
blurred the schoolmaster's figures,
which so distressed him that he got up
and took a turn about the room. Then
he came back to the table again.
"Dear Mrs. Sweet" he said, quite
imploringly, eff you would only make
up your mind to master these first
rules /! A man sold his farm for $500
"And I'm sure he got a good price
for it," l broke in "and whatever he
got for his house, it must have been
all it was worth. AS for his store,
don't want to know anything about
it; | can't see that it's any of my BUSH
ness, and L can't bother just now. If
it was house alone, or a store alone,
or farm-but to cut them all up and
put them together again like a patch
work quilt is impossible for me to
think of, Mr.. Slade. L can't do it,
never could, and it's ridiculous to ask
me such a thing, Mr.. Slade. All can
do after you go away is to go on work
ing for Mrs. Chapel till l drop dead !;
and if it wasn't for Charlie, would not
care how soon that would be-"
Then put my head down on the ia
BILE and cried, ready to break my heart.
| couldn't help it. l was the most
wretched creature in the world and
my heart was full. l couldn't help the
cry, and Pm glad now that did.
For suddenly l felt his strong arm
tremble on the back of my chair.
alt is so sad and terrible" | said,
''tO have the seams all crooked, and
Mrs. Chapel"
Confusion to Mrs. Chapel and her
crooked seams Tell me, madam
Mrs. Sweet-tell me, dear little heart,
would it not even be better to give
over your future to grim old peda-
gogue like met 1t shall at least be
free from crooked seams and puzzling
problems"
| heaved a sigh of relief and his
strong arms fell shelteringly about me.
''If heaven will vOuchsafe to me-" he
said, getting back to his dear old
wOrdy way, "yOur sweet companion
ship for all the days to come, l can
ever find it in my heart to be grateful
to Mrs. Chapel, and wish her WE'LL"
don't know what said, but every
body knows that could never see any
fault in Mr.. Slade, and don't to this
day. He fills his professors chair, and
l have ever SO many comfortable ones